Teac TN-300 just say no?

[Dr Tinear]

I know the TEAC would be more enjoyable than the $400 POS Dual I recently bought on Barter Town. Oh well. Trust me 40 year old TT's are well, a 40 year old TT. No more equipment purchases on Barter Town for me. Batting 1 for 5 on equipment purchases on BT.

Sorry to hear about your problems with the Dual purchase on Barter Town. My experiences there were quite different than yours. Both of the turntables I bought were exactly as described and were packed to survive the worst that UPS, FedEx, or the USPS could dish out. If I were shopping for another used turntable, I'd look to Barter Town first.

 

[lico]

Appears the other option for getting extra head shells for the Teac might be from Pioneer. The new Pioneer PL-30-K appears to use the same head shell in silver. And when Pioneer supports a product, you can actually search/buy parts on their website. I might buy one there (costs more than the Denon though). I am not impressed with Teac support thus far after a few unanswered emails.

 

[jasonsong86]

I'll try the stock cartridge again sometime, you're probably right. Does AT make an angled headshell? The only ones I've seen are straight. The old ADC angled headshells are different.

Most straight arms have angled headshells and they are not standard or removable most of the time.
Some headshells allow enough clearance to rotate the cartridge.

 

[Bruut]

I bought one because I like the look of it compared to its competitors (I find the rega and pro-ject options just ugly and I love the wood on the teac) and according to the limited experiences of the online community it should have been a decent tt.
The first few records sounded great but since then the speed went increasingly inconsistent. I cannot find any other reason for this other than the tt.
After 2 days of use (=few hours play) I decided to return the unit and ask for a refund.

It's a shame because it really is a nice looking table and I can't find any new wood-finish tables in this price range (closest would be the project xpression)

 

[bangsezmax]

I'm surprised the Wow & Flutter Gang aren't out in full force dumping on the Orbit as its specs are nearly as bad as the Teac (0.175%W&F versus 0.2W&F, which as we know from this thread is much higher than measured reality, in one case anyway).

And those Hanpins some love so much to hate come in at even less than the Orbit!

I'll fess up as one of the "Wow & Flutter Gang." If your ears hear pitch variations, having a fluttery turntable is like nails on a chalkboard. And god forbid if the record is slightly off-center too. I don't like feeling seasick listening to records.

More power to ya if this doesn't bug you.

 

[bangsezmax]

I know the TEAC would be more enjoyable than the $400 POS Dual I recently bought on Barter Town. Oh well. Trust me 40 year old TT's are well, a 40 year old TT. No more equipment purchases on Barter Town for me. Batting 1 for 5 on equipment purchases on BT.

Looking through your posts, you bought a Dual 1219, correct? While it's unfortunate that you feel you got a bad deal on it, the design and workmanship of a 1219 are quite impressive and respectable, and unless it was seriously abused it should be restorable to be an excellent playback device. If there are issues with it, I hope you took them up with the seller.

As you can see from the recent post by Bruut, being new in no way guarantees a better experience than something 40 years old. I have repaired hundreds of turntables, and in general I trust the 40-year-old ones -- including yours -- to hold up much better in the long run. Sorry your experience was a bad one.

 

[Garven]

I'll fess up as one of the "Wow & Flutter Gang." If your ears hear pitch variations, having a fluttery turntable is like nails on a chalkboard. And god forbid if the record is slightly off-center too. I don't like feeling seasick listening to records.

More power to ya if this doesn't bug you.

It's not about whether or not I (or anyone else) hear the W&F, it's the hypocrisy I see all too often from those who immediately dump on one of the Hanpin or other Chinese/Taiwanese turntables because their W&F numbers aren't as good as old Technics or similar turntables from 30-40 years ago yet if they recommend a new turntable, it's almost always one with similar or even worse W&F numbers! In this example, I see people all over the turntable forums raving about the great U-Turn Orbit yet its numbers are similar to the tables they immediately diss.

 

[bangsezmax]

It's not about whether or not I (or anyone else) hear the W&F, it's the hypocrisy I see all too often from those who immediately dump on one of the Hanpin or other Chinese/Taiwanese turntables because their W&F numbers aren't as good as old Technics or similar turntables from 30-40 years ago yet if they recommend a new turntable, it's almost always one with similar or even worse W&F numbers! In this example, I see people all over the turntable forums raving about the great U-Turn Orbit yet its numbers are similar to the tables they immediately diss.

Gotcha. Well, I'll be honest and say I haven't heard the U-Turn or the Teac. Heard plenty of Regas and Pro-Jects which are aggravatingly hit or miss pitch-wise in my experience.

I was happy to see that the Teac at least has pitch controls, although my suspicion is that the trimpots are the inside-the-motor-housing kind which are a pain to set. Better than nuthin!

 

[lico]

I bought one because I like the look of it compared to its competitors (I find the rega and pro-ject options just ugly and I love the wood on the teac) and according to the limited experiences of the online community it should have been a decent tt.
The first few records sounded great but since then the speed went increasingly inconsistent. I cannot find any other reason for this other than the tt.
After 2 days of use (=few hours play) I decided to return the unit and ask for a refund.

It's a shame because it really is a nice looking table and I can't find any new wood-finish tables in this price range (closest would be the project xpression)

That's unfortunate - and I haven't experienced it with mine yet. We'll see if the reliability holds up.

 

[lico]

I'll fess up as one of the "Wow & Flutter Gang." If your ears hear pitch variations, having a fluttery turntable is like nails on a chalkboard. And god forbid if the record is slightly off-center too. I don't like feeling seasick listening to records.

More power to ya if this doesn't bug you.

Well it doesn't bug me because the Teac isn't as bad as the specs would indicate. I'm sure I would hear it as well if this turntable performed at 0.2.

 

[lico]

Looking through your posts, you bought a Dual 1219, correct? While it's unfortunate that you feel you got a bad deal on it, the design and workmanship of a 1219 are quite impressive and respectable, and unless it was seriously abused it should be restorable to be an excellent playback device. If there are issues with it, I hope you took them up with the seller.

As you can see from the recent post by Bruut, being new in no way guarantees a better experience than something 40 years old. I have repaired hundreds of turntables, and in general I trust the 40-year-old ones -- including yours -- to hold up much better in the long run. Sorry your experience was a bad one.

The one advantage when buying new is you can send it back if it doesn't work. So in that respect it is much better than buying vintage from CL, Ebay, etc.

 

[majick47]

I bought one because I like the look of it compared to its competitors (I find the rega and pro-ject options just ugly and I love the wood on the teac) and according to the limited experiences of the online community it should have been a decent tt.
The first few records sounded great but since then the speed went increasingly inconsistent. I cannot find any other reason for this other than the tt.
After 2 days of use (=few hours play) I decided to return the unit and ask for a refund.

It's a shame because it really is a nice looking table and I can't find any new wood-finish tables in this price range (closest would be the project xpression)

It isn't always done but people have to consider the whole package beyond just a priority of a pretty wood plinthed turntable. Price, performance, specs, warranty, availability of parts and accessories, mfg support/advice/knowledge of turntables are what make up the whole package. If I had a budget of $400 for a new turntable I feel I might be much better served with the U-Turn Orbit Plus based on the extensive feedback from buyers re U-Turns very high level of customer satisfaction and U-Turns approach to customer support/questions/advice. U-Turn is very open to suggestions so ask away if they could add wood to their plinth offerings. I get the feeling that the U-Turn guys actually are like a lot of us and really enjoy listening to records/turntables. As for the Teak I havn't changed my mind, it's just another Hanpin in a pretty package with performance/reliability as an after thought, best left to first time turntable buyers in developing nations in Asia.

 

[lico]

Well Majick - you've pretty much taken every negative I've posted (I think I've given it a balanced fair assessment) and ignored the positives haven't you? I wouldn't expect you to change your mind and couldn't care less if you did. Now please go back to your Hanpin hating hideout and quit crapping in this thread.

 

[GPJeff]

Thanks for the test results!

 

[vmartell]

Have been following with interest the couple of threads that have popped up re: the TN-300 - decided to contribute to this one just because of the subject: The TN-300 just say no?

Short answer - don't know - and nobody in this forum can help you - you will have to audition it, and decide if you like the sound...

Now the long answer... Another one of my long winded posts....

Most of the issues center around the 0.2% W&F spec - some people lay the blame on shoddy Hanpin design and/or manufacturing, while others wouldn't give it the time of day even if specs were better - again, Hanpin to blame.

What to make of this?

1) Well - specs exist for a reason - in any system or device, specs should reflect the reality of it; that is - if it is commonly accepted that 0.2% W&F is on the threshold of being audibly unacceptable, then it is fair to say that a device with such specs will perform unacceptably - After all, measurements involve obtaining data about the device while in operation thru the means of instrumentation. Not only that - just listen to my $10k table with wonderful specs; is just like the difference between a Ford Pinto and a Mercedes 600000XXXXL - not to mention measured against a 40 year old English or German marvel - everything was better in the past! <PARODY>If you find the TN-300 acceptable, you must be a cloth eared fool... </PARODY>


2) OR... One thing is a measurement than can be detected by an instrument but no way audiophiles and other golden ears can detect differences even between devices tens of thousand dollars apart in price; <PARODY> these people have deluded themselves into thinking they are special because they believe a certain device sounds better due to their brains, which are full of biases, prejudice and yes, themselves, telling them so - pure audiopholery!! </PARODY>

Where does the truth lie? Not sure, but my advice is to listen... and don't worry - don't be afraid of being proud of your decision; if you like, it's OK if you are disparaged by people in group No. 1) or if you don't like it is fine to run afoul of people in group No. 2).... Audio and audio perception is affected by many factors, like your cartridge decision, the rest of your system, your room and the materials is made of, your age, your life and the way it has affected your auditory system... there is a good chance your experience will be different... even from people with the same table and cart...

Apologies - not specific to the TN-300 - but I guess it does apply not only to this, but to many others... Also, Just re-read the thread and realized some of the ideas have already been posted - that said, just wanted to add my $0.02...

My humble opinion - flame on if your must

V

 

[lico]

Title of thread changed to "just say yes" - but apparently can't be updated.

 

[Bill Ashton]

So I guess that the "new" Onkyo tt is really a Hanpin, based upon some of the hardware features...although to my eye a little more elegantly done...

http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=CP-1050&class=Turntable&source=prodClass

http://www.hanpin.com.tw/4_Products_02.html

It must be terrible...also, maybe its also really a Pioneer??

Sorry, all tongue in cheek...love the look of both TEAC turntables, and prolly would have one myself if they were available at the time I was buying...

EDIT: Just found this on the Onkyo/Pioneer site...interesting!

January, 2012 Entered into a capital and business alliance with Gibson Guitar Corporation
January, 2012 Transferred some Onkyo U.S.A. Corporation stock to Gibson Guitar Corporation
January, 2012 Entered into a capital and business alliance with TEAC Corporation

 

[RamblinE]

A couple of observations after following the Hanpin link on Bill Ashton's post.

".com.tw" Taiwan? The first world democracy and United States alley since the late 1940s? That's the red devil that everybody is so vehemently afraid of buying from?

I see Pioneers, Audio Technica's Stanton's, etc in their list of products but there's one thing missing. The Teac.

Okay, so it's possible that Teac and Hanpin have some kind of exclusivity clause in their contract. However then you'd expect a company as big as Pioneer or AT would as well. "Sell that design to nobody but us". And yet there they are in the catalog above.

So I suppose the mystery of where the Teac TN-300 comes from continues.

 

[Dr Tinear]

...".com.tw" Taiwan? The first world democracy and United States alley since the late 1940s? That's the red devil that everybody is so vehemently afraid of buying from? ...

If you dig a little deeper at the Hanpin site, you'll see that most of the company's plants are in the PRC. Here's a link: http://www.hanpin.com.tw/1_Hanpin_03.html. Of the company's five facilities, one (the global HQ) is in Taiwan and one is in Singapore. The other three are in the PRC.

I don't think that China's reputation in the U.S. as the "red devil," which started winding down more than 40 years ago during the Nixon administration, is the reason that some of us prefer not to buy Chinese products. The country's much more recent reputation as a worldwide supplier of often dangerous junk is a more likely reason.

 

[majick47]

The TN-300 could well be made by another Taiwan based mfg with some parts, possibly the tonearms, supplied by Hanpin. Even being an "original" design, not a knockoff, my observation is the "beauty" is only skin deep and there is nothing remarkable performance wise to separate the TN-300 from the other entry level turntables. I'd have no problem buying something like a high quality Persian rug as long as it was made prior to the "death to the USA" 1979 Iranian revolution. The recent Lumber Liquidators news didn't do much to instill a lot of faith in the current safety and quality of Chinese products either.